Local LEGO team wins; to compete at world contest

Oak Ridge’s Robertsville Middle School’s First LEGO League team — using miniature robots to perform required functions on a table — has once again earned a spot in next spring’s world LEGO tournament in St. Louis after winning Saturday’s contest championship in Cookeville.

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By from staff reports

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By from staff reports

Posted Dec. 11, 2012 at 7:27 PM
Updated Dec 11, 2012 at 7:30 PM

By from staff reports

Posted Dec. 11, 2012 at 7:27 PM
Updated Dec 11, 2012 at 7:30 PM

Oak Ridge’s Robertsville Middle School’s First LEGO League team — using miniature robots to perform required functions on a table — has once again earned a spot in next spring’s world LEGO tournament in St. Louis after winning Saturday’s contest championship in Cookeville.

The RMS Ninjineers competed against 59 other teams from across Tennessee and came away with the 1st Place Grand Champions Award, a $1,000 check from Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the privilege of representing the state at the FLL World Festival which will take place April 24-27, 2013, at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Mo. There they will compete with more than 85 teams from around the world in a world class competition.

"They overcame much adversity this season and yet when push came to shove they performed impeccably," said Blair King, vice principal of RMS. "They look forward to sharing their Senior Solution — The Pill Ninja and their Robot Sensibot and its amazingly engineered attachments the Kracken, Narwhal (A Trebuchet), Hammerhead and Orca."

The team only found out two weeks before the region tournament that it was going to be able to compete after having earlier had to cancel.

“The last two weeks have seen us being at school about three to four days a week from after school until the end of the day,” said Lisa Buckner, one of Robertsville’s coaches. “What was really cool was the fact the kids who had dropped out because of other commitments that came up still came back to help the team get ready. In the end, the whole team worked to finish it even though only four could come to the tournament.”

Robertsville will now prepare to compete in its fourth world tournament.

In addition to the miniature robots table performance, teams were also interviewed by teams of judges regarding the design procedures they followed, as well as other tasks that were undertaken ands challenges that had to overcome from the time the teams began preparing earlier this fall until the day of the tournament.

The team's mentors were Mark Buckner, Peter Thornton and members of the ORHS FIRST Robotics Team 4265, The Wildbots. In addition to Lisa Buckner, Rodney King is also a coach for the Ninjineers.